AT A COURT in Houston in the state of Texas in the United States on 18 December, an Iraqi refugee of Palestinian descent - identified as 25-year-old Omar Faraj Saeed Al-Hardan - was sentenced to 16 years in prison for planning to detonate explosives at two shopping malls in support of the Islamic State, the Associated Press reported. Al Hardan pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organisation on 17 October 2016. Authorities alleged that Al Hardan was coordinating with another Iraqi refugee in the state of California. Al-Hardan entered the United States in November 2009, and was arrested on 6 January 2016.